Skyline sports kites as dying ‘sport’ revives in corona curfew
PRAYAGRAJ: The dying pastime of flying kites is now again in fashion, pursued by old and young alike-- courtesy the corona curfew in the wake of the second waves of Covid-19.
During the curfew, people do not have much on their hands. So the sky is full of colourful kites of all shapes and sizes in the evening. Terraces, especially in the old city localities, are occupied by kite flyers with reels of strings and special manjha.
The passion is helping people stay away from their smart phones and television for long hours, especially in the evening.
Unfortunately, a few incidents of injuries to people due to Chinese kite string have also been reported in the past few months. Moreover, a clash also took place and shots were fired in a dispute over flying kites in old city area of Khuldabad.
A young trader of Muthiganj, Sachin Jaiswal climbs on his terrace with his kites and reel as he has no work these days. “Most of the shops are closed these days and venturing out is not safe, so I am pursuing my old passion ,”Sachin shared.
Urdu poet Najeeb Raza aka Najeeb Allahabadi himself is passionate about kite flying. Najeeb is dedicating his evenings to flying kites with the children on his terrace these days. In his words
“Udti hain be faiz fizaon me patange, phir aman-o-mohabbat ki fiza mang rahi hain”.
“It is good to see that the sky is again sporting colourful kites like it used to do in my childhood,” Najeeb Allahabadi added.
Agha Ali Qasim of Dariabad, a professional kite flier, said flying kites has been a major sport since medieval time but it was dying fast. With curfew in implementation, the sport was regaining popularity among people again. However, he said that use of Chinese string should be avoided.
Venturing out unnecessarily was not allowed in view of spread of coronavirus, so instead of playing cricket and other outdoor games, youths and children were flying kites from their terraces to pass their time, said another professional kite flyer Bonney bhai.
Kite traders Shabi Hasan of Dariabad and Naseem aka Black Tiger saidthat although they were not opening shops due to lockdown, they sold kites and strings to youths from home if they came.
Kite flyers Amit, Fareed, Rizwan and others claimed that they even sprayed sanitizer on their kites before flying them. As kites may travel far off after it was cut, so it should be ensured that it was free of infection, they said.
It is worth mentioning that a single kite is sold for Rs 5 to Rs 20 depending on its size and make. Hundreds of households, especially women in old city localities, are engaged in manufacturing of kites purchased by big or local traders. Achhu Bhai, a kite maker of Dariabad, said that kites had become costlier than before because raw material was not available on regular basis. With people now flying kites again, it would give employment and cash to kite makers and traders, he said.